ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY
IMPORTANT ONE-LINER
CHAPTER 1
- Father of history is Herodotus. He wrote a book named "The Histories" Pre-History Period This is an era when human life was not civilized and we don't have written documents about it. This is called prehistoric period.
- It is divided into 3 parts
1. Paleolithic Period: Old stone age (Unknown Period-10000 BC)
2. Mesolithic Period Mid stone age (10000 BC-4000 BC)
3. Neolithic Period: New stone age (4000 BC-2500BC)
- The fire was invented in old stone age The wheel was discovered in new stone age. Humans learnt house construction in new stone age.
- The first pet of humans was dog. Farming was invented in new stone age. Hunting was main source of livelihood in old stone age. The first metal used by humans was copper. The first tool used by humans was Axe.
- The firstevidence of agriculture was found in Mehrgarh. The first use of term 'Bharatvarsha' is found in the Hathigumpha inscription.
- The first crop grown by human was wheat and barley. The coins which have no text but have some carvings are called Aahat coins Punch-Marked coins and were made of silver. or According to Romila Thapar, iron was firstly used in 800BC
THE VEDAS
- The most ancient grants are Vedas, its meaning is 'Knowledge
- There are four main Vedas.
1. Rig Veda
3. Sama Veda
2. Yajur Veda.
4. Atharva Veda.
1. Rig Veda
- This is the oldest veda. It has 10 mandalas, 1028 bymns and 10462, verses
- Rig veda has five branches
- God Som is mentioned in 9th Mandala. There are 25 rivers mentioned in Rig veda
- Vishwamitra was the creator of Gayatri Mantra, which is mentioned in third mandals of Rig veda
- Gayatri mantra is mentioned in Rig veda and it is dedicated to Savitri
- In the seventh mandala of Rig veda, there is a war mentioned between King Sudas and 10 other kings King Sudas was the winner and the battle field was around Parushni river (Ravi River)
2. Yajur Veda
- This veda is written in both poetry and prose formata. It has two parts:
1. Krishna Yajurveda
2. Shukla Yujurveda
3. Sama Veda
- This veda tells us about music. It is also considered as the father of Indian music There are total 1549 verses in it. Only 76 were new and the rest were taken from Rig Veda
4. Atharva Veda
- This Veda was written in the last: this is also called Modern Veda Witchcraft, Occult arts, Medicines, Marriage and love are mentioned in it
- There are nine branches of Atharva Veda Paippalada and Saunakiya are more popular, This is also called Brahma Veda. This veda tells us that Sabha and Samiti are two daughters of Prajapati There are total 6 Vedangas
1. Shiksha (Education)
2 Jyotisha (Astronomy)
3 Vyakarana (Grammar)
4. Kalpa Sutras (Rituals)
5. Nirukta (Etymology)
6. Chhanda (Verse)
- There are total 18 "Puranas". Lombarsha and his son Ugrasharva are the author of puranas Matsya purana is the oldest puranic text
- Presently available puranas belong to Gupta period. Vishnu purana is related to Mauryan dynasty, Matsya puran is related to Satavahana dynasty and Vayu purana is related to Gupta dynasty.
- Chanakya is the author of Arthashastra. He is also known as Vishnugupta and Kautilya.
- Kautilya was also called "Indian Machiavelli”. + Arthashastra can be explained as 'Science and Art of politics and diplomacy'.
- Arthashastra tells us about Mauryan Empire. → Kalhan was the author of Rajatarangini (River of kings), an account of the history of kings of Kashmir. Panini is the author of Ashtadhyayi book. This book is all about Sanskrit treatise on grammar.
- Manu Smriti is the oldest document. Its author is Manu.
- Jain literature is called Jain Agamas. Initial history of Jain religion is mentioned in a book named 'Kalpasurta'. It is written by Bhadrabahu.
- Jataka tales are related to Buddhism. The stories of previous birth of Lord Buddha are mentioned in this book. Mohenjo-daro was the oldest city of India. Which is known as Mritakon ka teela (Mound of the dead). Gibbon, which is found in Assam, is the only ape in India.